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Saturday, 23 June 2012

Fortnight of Guests: Joss Stirling

It's a huge pleasure to have Joss Stirling, writer of teen novels about the Benedict boys - seven heroes with paranormal powershere today taking part in the FoG! I love the Benedict series and can't even tell you how excited I am for Seeking Crystal! If you don't believe me, check out my reviews for the first two in the series: here! Ok, I'll stop rambling now... ;)

Joss Stirling and the Olympics

Did you get Olympic tickets? I failed. I needed (my savant character)
Victor Benedict’s mind-influencing powers to change that outcome. It certainly seems unfair I scored a duck when
I heard recently of one friend’s brother who received all nine sets of
tickets that he put in for. He is now
almost bankrupt, of course.

My family of savants who feature in Finding Sky, Stealing Phoenix and soon to be published Seeking Crystal (October), all come with handy skills to help them
through such dilemmas. As sadly I can’t
conjure them from the page to sort out my Olympic problem, I’ll just have to
imagine myself there.

I did something a little like this at the
very beginning of Stealing Phoenix. I
decided to set the first scene on the close to completed Olympic Park. A few readers have suggested this will date
the book but that would happen anyway with any mention of technology. In a year or two we will be saying ‘iPod? –
that’s so yesterday!’ as we’ll have moved on to the next gadget. Fashion is another thing that dates quickly,
which maybe why writers (including me) often put characters in jeans and
t-shirt to play it safe.

Yet the reason for going to the stadium in
the plot was not to catch any Olympic wave, but because that part of London has
been so radically re-written since I knew it as a child and teen.My first job involved a long commute past the
site – then a derelict stretch of unattractive East London.This is what it looks like today from the
train (insert photo) – still not that pretty but heading towards
impressive.Phoenix’s story is a little
like this – a rewriting of her life to make a decision to change the narrative
from one of living on the edge to a relationship with someone who will put her
at the centre of his life.(It also
helps that he is gorgeous and kind).

Literary landscapes are always charged with
meaning from King Lear’s wasteland to Twilight’s forested, moody Washington
State.It would be hard to imagine King
Lear having a breakdown on a sunny Caribbean beach, or Bella and Edward
languishing after each other in an office in Swindon.

Part of the enjoyment of writing for me is
finding the location to fit the story. I
thought long and hard where to set Seeking Crystal and in the end went for
Venice because I could imagine no better place to fall in love. But it is very much the modern city, on the
brink of being submerged by climate change, which adds a layer of fragility
chiming with the emotions of the main character. I won’t say any more now – you’ll find out
how this all works in the autumn.

Where would you set a story and why? Let me know below on the message board.

Ooh, I love the Victorian era, so I'd love to write one set then! Or, like you, London: gotta love the urban scene! Everyone, let us know where you'd set a story!! :DThank you so much for taking part, Joss!

Everyone, if you liked this post, make sure you follow all the FoG
events on Twitter at
#FortnightOfGuests

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About Me

Hello, my name's Megan, and I'm a Book Addict.
I love teenage Dark Romances, classical novels and anything that involves vampires, werewolves or anything even remotely related to the supernatural.
I also blog at The Girls Of YA with my wonderful blogging partner Emma from Never Judge A Book By Its Cover!